


Let's Just Talk

by Lokkish



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Minor Explicit Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-28
Updated: 2016-07-28
Packaged: 2018-07-27 07:43:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7609615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lokkish/pseuds/Lokkish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Tony finally gets around to calling Steve he only has one thing on his mind. “Steve, its Tony. We need to talk. The Accords are going five ways to Sunday and you and I both know it. We have to have a discussion about what to do. We can’t keep going on like this…” Tony knows that something needs to be done and he can’t do it alone, but he’s not about to apologize. No they just need to talk, no apology necessary.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let's Just Talk

**Author's Note:**

> So was anyone else a bit frustrated over the whole Accords thing in CA:CW? I just wanted Tony and Steve to sit down and talk it out because it seems like an important thing to just allow fists to talk about. I also felt Steve was way too invested in Bucky at the time to even really think about the Accords, which didn’t help things. Anyways I guess this is a fix-it fic with a happy ending where everyone isn’t a fucking ass, or a moron, and they just talk and they just listen! Hope you enjoy.
> 
> Also thanks to forbucksake.tumblr.com/. This has been in the works for weeks now but I couldn’t figure out my beginning until I read their comment on Tumblr: “I am still so bitter and angry at Steve like I don’t want all these post ca:cw stony fics where tony forgives Steve and everything’s all fine, I want a fic where Steve realizes how much he fucked up and tony doesn’t forgive him. Bonus: Mama Bear Rhodey comes in and shoves Bucky’s severed mechanical arm so far up Steve’s ass that he’s pleading the fifth by the end of it” Sorry no Bucky in this story but I agree with your sentiment. Thanks for the inspiration.

Tony sat and stared at the disposable phone that Steve sent him.

How was this supposed to go exactly?

Did Steve expect him to pick up the phone one day and say sorry? To apologize that they couldn’t see eye-to-eye?

The note said call anytime you need help and honestly … as much as Tony hated to admit it he needed help. Without Steve’s support the Accords are going drastically wrong. He was hoping that after they all signed the Accords the less than desired results of the document could be redacted, the document ironed out (no pun intended), and in the end everyone could have a little bit of what they all wanted. That’s how politics was supposed to work, theoretically of course, you give a little get a little until you meet somewhere in the middle.

Instead, since there was now officially less people to help fight for Superheroes and other super powered people in general, the Accords have been geared more towards the desires of people like General Ross. This, no surprise, included such measures as incarcerating any super powered person who doesn’t sign the Accords for the rest of their natural or unnatural lives.

This created a rift between super powered people and the general public. Groups like the X-Men were being hunted down like never before and being threatened with prison sentences just because they didn’t want their names and powers to be common knowledge to the general public. This created unease making more and more super powered people feel like they had to join in groups, most not joining the groups that had the best of intentions, just so that they could feel more protected from forces that they felt were out to get them.

Futurist, Hawkeye called him. Maybe he was right, no not maybe he was right, but was that such a bad thing?

The future Tony had envisioned was one where none of this was even happening. To create a world where the common citizen felt protected at the same time the super powered people of the world also felt like they had a say in their own futures and safety.

Would it have been perfect? Probably not, but it would have been something resembling a world in which people like Wanda weren’t solely being blamed for their lack of control in their powers or generally being blamed for situations they had absolutely no control over. Instead there would be a system in place where the government that people had elected to look out for their best interest would be responsible for what went wrong instead of kids.

The Accords could setup something like a task force, a certain amount of super people could be assigned a district to look after, and when they were needed that group could take care of it and if needed call in reinforcements from neighboring districts. This way people from say America who had no idea about the culture, desires, or safety measures in other countries, like say Sokovia, didn’t just pop up and destroy a whole city without any accountability. Wouldn’t it have been better if there was a superhero task force in Sokovia when Ultron popped up that could have made the call on what should and should not happen to protect its people? The Accords could make that happen, this theoretical Sokovia superhero task force could be put in place and then they could take care of situations that arise there and other task forces could be on call to help if needed.

You know what other government program works like that? The police force.

Most Americans trust the police to protect their communities didn’t they? So wouldn’t that be something to aspire to? Well, most Americans used to trust their police force. Today the world seems to be going upside down and it can be argued that some people don’t, and never did, trust the police, but does that mean we get rid of the whole security system set in place? No, there just needs to be change to make the system better. Which could also be done in the Accords, change of course would need to happen until everyone is as happy as can be. You don’t get rid of the Constitution just because you don’t like the Second Amendment, you make new constitution amendment and bills to help clarify and help distinguish meaning in the ever changing world they all lived in. Why is it so hard to think that the same could not be said for something like the Accords?

Tony just couldn’t understand Steve’s reasoning, hell he could barely remember Steve counter argument. What was it? Something like, what happens when your interests and the government's interest don’t align? Ok that was a valid argument, but humans have been dealing with this kind of thing for hundreds of years now. That’s what elections are for, what wars are fought over (maybe not Tony’s best defense), and what change brings about. The point would be that the general public would have a say in what super powered people who wanted to call themselves Superheroes were engaged in through the representatives that they elected, and consequently the repercussions that come from these elected officials. Not to mention who’s to say that this theoretical task force has to listen to their government officials anyways? Police officers make executive decisions all the time, for good or for ill.

Again Tony’s not saying that there aren’t flaws, but at least he’s trying to create something that the everyday public has more of a say in than what Steve is doing.

He should call Steve, have a meeting with him, talk it over, and not apologize. Never apologize for what you believe in. Even if you turn out to be wrong you still believed in something with enough conviction to argue over it, and that should never be apologized for. At the end of the day while you might concede to a better truth that does not mean you had nothing to discus and both parties should leave feeling they had learned something new.

Tony didn’t even notice that he had the phone to his head until he heard it start ringing. ‘Shit what am I thinking?’ Tony thought before the automatic messaging started.

“... Leave a message after the tone.” Beep.

“Steve, its Tony. We need to talk. The Accords are going five ways to Sunday and you and I both know it. We have to have a discussion about what to do. We can’t keep going like this. Xavier’s kids are being threatened with incarceration. This isn’t what I wanted. Please just give me a time and place; you know I’ll be good on it. We have to at least talk.” Tony emphasized his last word as he hung up. Talk not fight. Not have World War III just talk, like the normal civilized men that they were. Mostly.

\-----

The next day Tony had a message waiting for him when he woke up.

“Thursday, 2 p.m., Wakanda embassy.” Was all Steve said in return.

“Wakanda?” Tony said in bewilderment as he put away the phone. “What could he possibly be doing in Wakanda of all places?”

“Knock-knock. Made breakfast Tones, you hungry?” Rhodey asked as he opened the bedroom door.

“Oh hey, morning Honey Bear.” Tony yawned. “Yes please, bring it to me.” He said stretching his arms over his head trying to wring out some of the sleep that still had a hold over him. Rhodey laughed.

“The day I bring you breakfast in bed Tony is the day I know you are about to die, and you haven’t yet so we shouldn’t expect that to ever happen.” Rhodey said as he leaned against the door frame.

“True, true, but we got pretty close a few times there didn’t we sweetcakes.” Tony smirked.

“Don’t remind me. Now get off your lazy ass and come have breakfast.” Rhodey said turning away to head back to the kitchen.

“Hey Rhodes.” Tony asked concern coloring his voice.

“The legs are working perfectly Tony, don’t worry.” Rhodey answered continuing on his way to the kitchen not even turning. When Rhodes was sufficiently out of earshot Tony fell back and sighed. He’s been working on those legs for about a month now and even though Rhodey always says they work perfectly, Tony even got them to be lighter and able to be concealed under a pair of loose fitting jeans, Tony was always convinced that there was something that could still be done. Like Rhodey still couldn’t run … yet.

“Tony! Get your ass over here!” Rhodey yelled from the kitchen area.

“I’m coming, I’m coming, Momma Bear!” Tony yelled back kicking his covers off and heading out to the kitchen. Entering the kitchen Tony couldn’t help but be a little sad. Once it wasn’t uncommon to see six or seven chair filled with all the Avengers eating together. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner if everyone could make it, Steve liked them all eating together he said it built team comradery, but now there was just Tony and Rhodey.

Isn’t that the story of Tony’s life though? There was only one person in this world that Tony could actually count on to have his back through thick and thin and that was the man sitting there with him right now. When people gave up on him when he was lost in Afghanistan this man came to take him home, when Tony treats him like an ass he’s still there to help him kick Hammer’s butt, when he needs someone to save the president while he saves his now ex- he was there to help. Tony honestly doesn’t know what he would do without Rhodes.

“You’re thinking too loudly again.” Rhodey says as he eats his scrambled eggs. “What’s up?”

Tony stares at him for a moment, “Do you want to go to Wakanda?” He ends up asking.

Rhodey raises an eyebrow before putting down his fork. “What’s in Wakanda, Tony?”

“Steve Rodgers, Thursday at 1 pm.” Tony answers still eating his breakfast as if Rhodey wasn’t looking at him with something that was approaching bewilderment before morphing to anger.

“You’re fucking with me, right Tones?” Rhodey asked with a pointed stare.

“I called him last night-”

“Tony.”

“We have to talk, Rhodey.” Tony says pointedly.

“I’m sorry but who was the one who made it abundantly clear last time that he had no intention of talking Tony?” Rhodey asked exasperated.

“We now know that circumstances being as they were it would have been foolish to expect him to talk to us then Rhodey.” Tony said matter of factly. “He thought the world was under threat of some type of super soldier take over or something. We both know that when Steve Rogers thinks the world as we know it is about to end he kind of has a one track mind. Granted when such a way of thinking is needed it’s a good thing. Unfortunately having moral debates with a time limit is not conducive to such thinking. Things have settled down now, I think it will be safe to have a talk with him.”

“Tony, I swear.” Rhodey sighed running his hands over his face. Then he tried again. “He wasn’t ever going to sign those Accords Tones, you know that. What was going on with the Winter Soldier was just something that he could hide behind instead of thinking critically on what the Accords would mean and whether or not they were something that needed to happen. What makes you think he’s going to change his mind now?”

“I’m going to be able to actually talk to him this time? Cooler heads, it can do wonders.” Tony said flippantly. “Are you coming with me or not?”

“Yes of course,” Rhodey said as if he really didn’t have a choice, and in reality did he? “When was it again next Thursday?”

“No, I think he meant this Thursday.” Tony said simply.

“Wait, you do know tomorrow is Thursday right?” Rhodey asked his friend.

“Umm … yes … Hmm didn’t think of that. That means we need to leave here at what 7 a.m. tomorrow? Jesus, I’ll pack a few things tonight talk about cutting it close huh?” Tony laughed.

“This isn’t funny Tony,” Rhodey said totally fed up with the conversation. “Why would you agree to meet so soon without any warning?”

“Well it’s not like he gave me much of a choice Chocolate Bear.” Tony said looking anywhere but at him. “I called him late last night and left him a message saying we needed to talk. He left me a message this morning saying, ‘Thursday 2 p.m., Wakanda.’” Tony mocked in his best Captain America voice which was a total fail, but Rhodey didn’t even crack a smirk at his best friend's antics.

“You’re not serious.” Rhodey said shocked. “You’re letting him set the terms of the meeting? Not even the facade of a compromise?”

“We need him to talk to us Rhodes.” Tony said dejectedly.

“That doesn’t mean you let him think he has the upper hand. Tones -”

“Rhodey what would you have me do?” Tony said finally looking at Rhodey, something he had been avoiding through their whole meal.

“He’s not going to sit down and talk if we come on too strong and we need him too. Let’s face it, he effectively has us by the balls right now and there isn’t much we can do about it other than try to come up with a compromise.”

“And what does that look like?” Rhodes asked seriously. “He won't even sign the damned things so that we can actually sit with the people that will actually make a difference about what the Accords will and won't entail.”

“I know, but we can talk and talk again and talk again and eventually we can get him to a point where he’ll want actually think about signing them.”

“‘A point where he’ll think about signing them?’ Tony-”

“You still have denied telling me what you think the alternative is here Rhodey.” Tony snapped.

Rhodey sat back in his chair; he failed to notice that he was slowly moving closer and closer to Tony as they talked. He took a moment and sighed. “You’re right, there aren’t many other choices are there?” Rhodey conceded.

“No.”

Rhodey could see the worry lines on Tony’s face become more pronounced when he made the final declaration. Rhodey grabbed Tony’s hand and gave it a squeeze trying to convey that he was there for Tony, no matter what he was always there. “How are Xavier’s kids?” He asked.

Rhodey knows that Tony was in contact with many different superheroes, mutants, and just plain super humans ever since the Accords started. They all were looking for advice. What was going on? What could they do? What were their choices?

One of these groups that have been particularly worrisome to Tony was the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters or X-Men to those in the know. The Accords were particularly tricky when it came to the school for many of the people who went there were there to help get away from the world where many viewed them as freaks, not to mention of those many more were minors and the Accords didn’t adequately talk about what minors would have to go through. Thus there was constant talk between Tony and Charles Xavier to make sure that the children were as safe as they possibly could be, and trying to make the Accords more lenient on those that have no desire to show off their skills, mutant or otherwise. Rhodey understood Xavier's concerns and more than that Rhodey appreciated that Xavier was talking to Tony about them and trying to work with him to make the Accords more beneficial to everyone that would be affected.

That was more than Rhodey could say about Steve Rogers’ approach. Wakanda was neutral to the whole situation, they signed on early so they had immunity to allow for people to seek amnesty, it was quickly becoming a haven for many Superheroes to hide without fear of being prosecuted. Now Rhodey understood why, if Captain America was there than it made a lot of sense as to why many would flock to him seeking an alternative to the Accords.

“The kids are doing alright.” Tony said getting back on the X-Men. “Mostly it’s the professors and other adults we need to worry about now. Children are granted anonymity as minors, everyone can agree to that, and minors are as defined by the country in which the child lives so if they want to change that it’s a country by country issue.”

“Well, that’s good.” Rhodey sighed. “Do you think they’ll give way on the whole, people don’t have to sign if they don’t plan on being superheroes aspect of the Accords?”

“That’s why we need to talk to Steve and get him on the debate team.” Tony said as he squeezed Rhodey’s hand. “Ross is arguing that just because some people say they are heroes doesn’t mean that other super humans don’t need to sign the Accords. Secret identities and stuff can hide villains as well as the good guys, and I believe last time he said something to the effective of, ‘Isn’t it better to get everyone’s identity and what they are capable of instead of the ones you think are the good guys.’ He talks about it as if he wants to put every human on earth through some sort of screening process. It’s just a process meant for disaster.

Xavier is good at getting some of the people in the U.N. to understand that you can’t monitor every human on this earth like that and some people deserve some things that are kept private, especially if they mean no harm. But so many of them are scared. Scared about the one that will get away with mass murder because they didn’t have a check on that one guy. I get the concern, but this micromanaging they seem to want is just ridiculous not to mention almost unattainable. There will always be that one guy that slipped through the cracks.”

“And you think Steve will be able to get them to change their minds?” Rhodey asked seriously.

“Yes,” Tony said with conviction. “People love that poster boy. He oozes safety and if he said that people have a right to some form of privacy if they pose no threat my hope is that more people who matter will believe him because they will feel safer with him telling him saying that instead of me, me the embodiment of rash decisions and poor choices. The only reason I got as far as I did with the kids was because of Charles, now I’m hoping we can get even farther with Rogers.”

“Ok, well hopefully you are right.” Rhodey said giving Tony’s hand one last squeeze. “Now help me clean up.”

\-----

“Tony you’re being unreasonable.”

“I’m being unreasonable; you’re the one who won't even look at this from my point of view. We tried it your way Cap, and now there is a proverbial mob out there demanding Wanda’s head. Still! It’s been almost a year since Lagos and they still want her either behind bars or killed.” Tony said standing up in aggravation.

Rhodey sat to the right of Tony watching as Tony paced behind his chair his hands clenching and unclenching. Rhodey had no doubt that Tony desperately wanted a drink but he’s been sober for more than a two years now, thanks in no small part to the team, Pepper, and Rhodey himself. It would be devastating if all that hard work went by the wayside, yet every time Tony and Steve sat down for one of, what has now turned into their bi-weekly, talks it was up to Rhodey alone to keep a bottle out of Tony’s hands.

“We tried it your way too Tony-”

“Ha! Barely. You didn’t even try to sign on, and then you attacked us lest you forget.” Tony fumed as Steve sat cool as a cucumber in his chair across the table.

“You attacked us back.” Sam pointed out from his spot to the right of Steve.

“I asked you all to stop, I asked you all to be reasonable, I asked him,” Tony said pointing to Steve, “to help us work it out. Yes the Accords aren’t perfect but they’re what we got now, we can work on them. It’s also not like I hear your plan, you just don’t like mine!” Tony’s voice escalated as he went on till he slammed his fist down for emphasis at the end.

“Tony,” Rhodey calmly called making his friend turn to him. Tony’s eyes were wild, saying ‘Why? Why won’t they listen to me?!’ and Rhodey could understand the desperation. They’ve been traveling for the past few months from Wakanda where they meet with Steve Rogers and whoever he decides to bring along (no sign of the Winter Soldier which Rhodey has been happy about, he’s not sure he wouldn’t try to kill the son of a bitch himself if he met him), to the United States to meet with Ross, to the U.N. Headquarters to talk with ambassadors and back again trying to work out how to make the Accords a more fair and agreeable document for everyone involved. It didn’t help that it didn’t seem like anyone wanted to budge on what they thought was right.

It was no secret that Ross wanted all the Superhero’s locked up on the Raft no other options will ever be on his table if he got his way.

The U.N. was much more agreeable if not divided in their views. The more agreeable ambassadors in the simplest terms wanted Superheroes to be responsible for their actions, there have been talks about Tony’s idea that each country had their own super people registered who wanted to so there is documentation on their abilities, and depending on where these super people lived and their desire to help their country they could act as super human police officers of a sorts within their country borders. Granted the less agreeable people at the U.N. believed all super humans should be locked up or killed.

Yet at the end of the day Tony knew how to deal with these types of people. Ross is military, have Rhodey do most of the talking and throw in a few snide remarks here or there to show him how stupid he’s being. It’s never the smoothest of transactions, and nothing ever really changes, but you can’t expect it too without popular opinion on your side and without Captain America on their side the people weren’t being all that helpful to force General Ross’ hand to the side of the super humans.

The U.N. was business as usual; Tony might not be CEO of his own company anymore but that in no way means he doesn’t remember how the game is played. Give a little here take a little there and you can be guaranteed something that looks like what you want even if it’s not 100% what you wished. Through these interactions there has been some movement but it wasn’t fast or drastic enough for Steve.

Steve was a moral bastard who didn't even know what it was he wanted but knew what he didn’t want. Example; Steve says, he didn’t want his friends to be in prison. Tony says, done sign the Accords and you are out of prison. Sam counters with, they want them out of prison without the Accords. Rhodey dictates, well that’s a problem.

“What is wrong with the Accords, exactly Steve? Please tell me, so you can help us fix the damn things and sign them so then you can get all your fucking friends out of prison!” Tony exclaimed on one memorable meeting where Steve flat out walked out on Tony without giving so much as a clue on what he thought should be done to fix the problem. It never seemed to get much better than that.

Most meetings went like this, ‘Here Steve these are the new thoughts on the Accords’ says Tony. ‘I don’t like them’ says Steve. ‘Why?’ sad face Tony. ‘I don’t like them’ Steve walks out and another day went by where nothing got done.

Now Rhodey will be the first to admit that he is obviously biases in Tony’s favor, being one of the man's only friends for 20+ years will do that to you, but that doesn’t mean Steve really ever says much more than that on a good day when they meet. Honestly, Rhodey is half convinced that no matter what Tony puts in front of him Steve will never agree. The whole idea of registering, of some supper humans being placed in prison that are otherwise ‘good’, powers being manipulating, the whole thing, it will never sit well with Steve.

While on some level Rhodey could understand and respect that, Steve wasn’t helping either. Steve seemed to think that what happened to S.H.I.E.L.D. is somehow similar to what would happen to the whole U.N. and all the separate countries that made it up and are that are taking part in the Accords. Rhodey found it a bit childish, and Rhodey knows childish, that Steve was unwilling to seek alternate solutions just because of what happened with S.H.I.E.L.D. At least that was what Rhodey was gathering.

But today was a new day and Rhodey was determined to make some sort of headway. Today they were going to talk like civilized adults and come up with a plan before they played ring-around-the-rosie once more.

“Come sit down, Tony.” Rhodey said calmly emphasizing his point by kicking Tony’s chair back from the table. The prosthetics that Tony made him worked like a charm, he had basically all natural movement back making something as simple as kicking a chair a non-issue once more. Yet every time he used his new legs it seemed to have a calming effect on Tony. Maybe it was a reminder that Tony could fix something that was believed to be beyond repair, or maybe it was him remembering how hurt Rhodey was initially, or maybe it was a bit of both. Either way Rhodey used his new ability to project calm to his friend every time he could get away with it, lightly kicking him or some inanimate object was quickly becoming his own secret weapon during a Tony tirade, and Tony knew it too.

Lightly huffing Tony sat in his chair and spun it so he was looking at the back wall. While disrespectful no one commented, Steve has dealt with Tony before and knew his small fits did not mean that he wasn’t listening.

“Now Steve,” Rhodey started, “We all know that you aren’t really interested in compromise-”

“Yes I am, if it’s reasonable.” Steve answered automatically.

“No you’re not,” Rhodey repeated, “But that’s ok for now, let's move past that.” he said trying to quickly ask his question. “Now if we lived in a perfect world what would you like to see being done?” This question was asked before but it never got far because Tony was the one usually asking it and Steve had a tendency to just attack the Accords instead of thinking of his own idea.

“Nothing would change Rhodey. If I had my way these Accords wouldn’t even exist.” Steve said simply.

“Correct, if you had your way these Accords wouldn’t have even been a thing.” Rhodey acknowledged. “You know I totally agree with you.”

“Wait wha-” Tony cried looking at his best friends as if he had just been betrayed.

“I wish these Accords didn’t exist either. I wish that the Avengers could just do their own thing and everyone would just be happy about it.” Rhodey continued.

“Rhodey-” Tony whined.

“But unfortunately they do exist. Unfortunately, these Accords are here and they are a thing and they being used desperately by Ross to get Tony, Sam, you, and me along with all our friends locked up for the rest of our lives because we can’t come to an agreement on what these things should look like in practice.” Rhodey plowed on determined to make his point. “We’ve been meeting for the past two month now trying to get you and Tony to _talk_ about how to make these things better but every time you two seem to try to talk to each other nothing gets done so I’m going to try something a bit new. Steve Rogers do you want everyone you know to be sent to prison?”

“Of course not Lieutenant Colonel.” Steve said plainly.

“Don’t call me that I’m retired.” Rhodey said dismissively. Being reminded of Rhodey's legs made Steve look somber for a moment. “Now assuming you don’t want your friends arrested, and it’s not like you can go about breaking them out of the Raft every time someone calls you for help, wouldn’t it be wiser to try and come to some sort of agreement?

Regardless of how you feel about the matter, Steve, these Accords aren’t going away. Ross has the U.N. on his side for this one and public relations will be a nightmare if you just ignore the U.N. on the Accords. The people think it’s going to keep them safe to have us all under wraps, but they have no idea what’s actually in these Accords. No one other than the people that it affects is going to read them and even then only a fraction of the people that it actually affects are going to read them. The rest is all second, third, and fourth hand knowledge.

Ask around Steve, its 2016 there is no such thing as privacy any more. People are going to see that the U.N. is _only_ asking us to sign into a registration. More people would agree that Facebook asks you more about your personal life when you sign on than these Accords are going to ask you, so most will see no problems. Hundreds of thousands of people say ‘If I’m not doing anything wrong why can’t the government look at my e-mails, my web-site searches, my GPS location. They’re only trying to keep us safe.’ You don’t think the general public isn’t going to say the same thing about the Accords, that they aren’t already saying the same thing?”

“This isn’t the internet Rhodey.” Steve says angrily.

“This also isn’t the 1940’s Rogers. Terrorism and war have beaten people down to the extent that they don’t care about public privacy anymore. Sure some people rant and rave that they still do, some of these people actually still do and take measures to keep their information private, but even more of these people are still signing into Facebook, still signing into Twitter, using unprotected e-mail accounts, using GPS apps that can be easily traceable. Privacy is an illusion in today's age and that’s something that you and yours have to face.” Rhodey said pointedly.

“So what? We’re just supposed to roll over then?” Sam asked, finally speaking up.

“No you’re supposed to help us screw over Ross.” Rhodey said sitting back in his chair. Tony gave a small snort when Rhodey finished. It said all Rhodey needed to hear, ‘Why the hell can Sugar Bear say in one short sentence what I’ve been trying to convey for the past two months.’

“What do you mean Rhodey?” Steve asked hesitantly.

“You read the original Accords yes? Have you read the newest update? I believe the newest one went on the U.N. website last Friday.”

“The Accords have been updated?” Steve asked a bit awed. This made Tony turn back around to look at him.

“What the hell do you think we’ve been up too Captain? Just because you’ve been sitting on your thumbs doesn’t mean the rest of us have been. Xavier was able to help me fix what was wrong with the minors in the accord.” Tony said snippily.

“Originally the Accords called for all humans with powers to have to sign the Accords. Obviously that is stupid for anyone who is a minor, minors should always be more protected, so we got them to change it to only when you become a legal adult in your country do you need to sign the Accords, and we are steadily making headway on the fact that people should only need to sign the Accords if they plan on using their powers in public. Many mutants are even hesitant to even admit that they have powers due to the discrimination that they get, so why should they be sent to jail if they don’t even plan on using them?” Rhodey continued.

“They shouldn’t,” Tony stated. “Minor offences should also not be deemed worthy of being incarceration either, but that’s all being taken care of with Xavier he’s much better suited for ironing out all the issues with keeping things as private as it’s going to get. What we still need to figure out though is what happens after we sign the Accords.”

“What do you mean? Didn’t you sign on to be the government's lap dogs?” Sam asked.

“Yes and no,” Rhodey admits. “Yes signing the Accords makes you answerable to the government, specifically the government under which you reside, but no we do not agree that we should be their lap dogs.”

“That being said what we had before isn’t going to work either. While you have good intentions Steve we can’t expect future generations of the Avengers to have you same moral high ground. If we believe that the Avengers are no better than S.H.I.E.L.D. and let's not forget that they were infiltrated by Hydra, and I can assure you Howard never intended them to do so either.” Tony continued.

“So Steve we need you. We need you and yours so that we can come up with a better plan. We need you all so that we can figure out what the future is going to look like and put pressure on the powers that be to make it happen the way that we want it to happen. Is it going to be like Tony suggests and small groups of heroes keep specific distracts safe?”

“Think of it like the current police force set up.” Tony clarified.

“Or do you have a better idea Captain? Sam? We are here to listen to you guys and to try and figure out what we are going to do next.” Rhodey finished.

Steve stared at them and then looked towards Sam. Sam shrugged and Steve lets out a long sigh. “Ok let's talk.”

\-----

It’s been two years since Ross first came to the Avengers headquarters and put a document in front of the group that later tore them apart. Now after the dust has settled and heads have cooled things were finally starting to look up again for the group. They were all back together again.

With Steve’s help it was agreed that there should continue to be an Avengers Headquarters. This would continue to be where new heroes would come to train and be registered into a system that contained their information such as name, address, and powers. After the heroes were trained they would be assigned to a hero station, like a police station, in an area that needed them. This was so heroes could be stationed throughout the world and hopefully it would not give special attention to any particular place. Of course where the hero was stationed had to be recognized by the U.N. and first priority went to heroes from the country that they came from.

There was also a system in place that long term heroes could eventually be placed at the Avengers H.Q. There they would be able to train new recruits and were considered to be in a brand of special ops unit. These special recruits were first line of global defense and had jurisdiction over questionable moral situations. To get in you had to show a long term dedication to the human race as a whole and pass a very rigorous moral test, which was odd because the man who designed it barely passed it himself (granted in his defense Tony always claimed that the test was designed to weed people like him out).

It was agreed that it didn’t make sense for humans that did not wish to use their powers to be required to register. Instead if you were caught using powers without first registering you would be brought to an Avenger station to be processed and fined. This of course excluded minors as they would instead be directed to one of the multiple schools around the world that had been set up to try and help gifted youngsters. Most of the times these things worked and while supervillains still existed, and probably always would, there were much less of them now that things have worked themselves out with the Accords. Those that persisted were placed in rehabilitation centers, not just locked up in some god forsaken prison center.

The Raft doesn’t exist anymore. Tony got the U.N. to disband it when he pointed out that the prisoners there were being treated inhumanly as most of the cells were solitary confinement rooms.

“Overall, I have to say you did a great job Tones.” Rhodey said approaching him from behind and grabbing his soldier as they looked over the training center from the loft area above. Steve was down there with Natasha showing the new recruits how to get their ass beat by a highly trained assassin.

“Yeah, it seemed in the end it all worked out didn’t it Sugarplum?” Tony replied with a small smile on his face. “Imagine what could have happened if I never called him to try to actually talk things out. Imagine what would have happened if you weren’t there to finally talk some sense into him”

“I shudder at the thought.” Rhodey laughed.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed. I know there wasn’t a lot of Steve talking in this and mostly it was Tony and Rhodey’s perspectives and ideas, but when writing this it dawned on me I actually kinda don’t understand Steve’s argument. I mean I guess I get it on like a, ‘I know the words that are coming out of your mouth and I can see why this would make sense to you,’ kind of level but I don’t understand his thought process. Thus, he doesn’t talk and I couldn’t come up with a good enough argument that I feel would actually be coming out of either his or Sam’s mouth, thus they conceded pretty quickly. Honestly that wasn’t my original intention and I’m sorry to anyone who does understand Steve’s point of view and feel like I didn’t do it justice. Honestly what Rhodey says to Steve is majorly how I think about the Accords and the overall problem and how Steve’s argument doesn’t have any standing. 
> 
> I would be greatly interested in having a real discussion about it if anyone wants. Through the whole movie this was the only thing that I still think about. I mean don’t get me wrong I loved the movie, saw it three times, but this moral quarrell was so interesting that I can’t get it out of my head. If you want to talk hit me up either here or on my Tumblr lokkish.tumblr.com/ that would be cool. 
> 
> Thanks for reading.


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